Pregabalin

[BLUES60]

I was on parapexipole for about 4 years, they stopped working, and I had terrible augmentation, so I stopped taking them and I really did suffer but I have been off them for about 3 months now and I do feel better, but still not sleeping very well, the doctor put me antrypaline, that affected me really badly, made things worse, I then went on to tramadol, that did help but still not sleeping to well, so now the doctor has given me 25g 1tablet of pregabaline on my recommendation from this site, I took my first one last night and almost instantly I felt like I did when I was going through augmentation, didn't sleep a wink, I am now very reluctant to take them again after a very negative experience thinking of just going back on the tramadol, what do you think?, do I need to be on it for a while before it starts working, or should I take a tramadol as well as the pregabalin?

[Pam34]

Hi

After augmentation on ropinirole I took 50mg of Tramadol at night for 18mths until they became ineffective. I didn’t want to increase the dose. I would say that although Tramadol helped my legs it did not help my sleep.

At the recommendation of my neurologist I started on Pregabalin about 4mths ago. Started with 50mg, second night 100mg and 3 days later 150mg. I’ve remained on this dose and would say I get 80% relief. It’s usually a takeaway or a drink too late at night that sets it off so that’s my fault. I read up on it widely so was aware of the negatives but have managed to keep any weight gain to 4lbs and have a few balance issues if I get up at night but nothing I can’t cope with. Otherwise all good, sleep well, less anxiety and RLS is much relieved.

I think with most drugs you have to be prepared to put up with a few issues until your body adapts and hopefully side effects disappear. This can take a few days or more. Only you can make the decision but maybe don’t dismiss after just one night?

Hope you find the answer

Pam

[BLUES60 in reply to Pam34]

Thank you much appreciated

[Madlegs1]

I agree with Pam- it takes the body a while to get used to any new medication. I would stick with it for a while. Taking Tram may help.

[martino]

I also agree with Pam. I started on Pregabalin a few weeks ago and it has taken time to feel the full benefit. I have had good sleep on two of the last three nights and am very pleased with that

[Pam34 in reply to martino]

Long may it last for us both!

[dontsleepmuch]

I recently did the 15-day meds "vacation" after 16 years of pram and of course, terrible augmentation. On day 15, I started with pregabalin, which took another 8 days for it to work for me. I absolutely had my doubts, as I had gone pretty much without sleep for close to three weeks. My neurologist asked me to stick with it for 15 days before moving on to plan B. Initial dosage started at 75mg, increased to 150 mg after a few days, then 225mg on the eighth day when RLS symptoms disappeared. Last night I lowered back to 150mg and made it through the night with no RLS symptoms. So hang in there and maybe think about higher dosages every few days.

[Joanne7011]

I have been started on taking one 50mg morning and night - is this normal / only on second day - just want to sleep

[Joolsg in reply to Joanne7011]

50mg of pregabalin? If taking it for RLS, best to only take in the evening. 100mg at night is on the low side for RLS but you have to monitor for a few weeks to see if RLS settles on that dose. You can increase slowly by 25 -50 mg a week up to 300mg max for RLS.

I take 100-150mg at night but also take 25mg OxyContin per day.

Pregabalin can make you sleepy and dizzy if taken in the day so unless you suffer bad daytime RLS- only take it an hour before bed.

Avoid magnesium 2/3 hrs before or after pregabalin or Gabapentin as it stops absorption.

Jools

[Jev1972]

Take it earlier in the day it has a decent half-life, it does has the tendency to keep you awake